MOT Fail - Springs

C

cj10jeeper

Lifer
 Lichfield, England
Well - Just got the MOT fail ticket and it's got both rear springs broken (oh and a white indicator but that's my fault for putting the wrong bulb in :headbang: and both headlights just above the upper limit of legal).

Amazing as I had a real good look just 2 weeks back and could see nothing wrong with the springs. Not even had any new clunks or rattles. Presume it's just the very top ends of a coil.

Ah well - I'm sure a waste of time going to BMW on a 2003 car so I'll just bite the bullet and buy new.

I'll read the treads but the dilema is new OEM rear pair or aftermarket full set?
I'm on ///M sport suspension
Don't want to lower the ride and iirc Kon drop ///M sport by another 15mm
Don't seek, harder, firmer, etc.
Cost does not matter too much

Anyone gone through this thought process recently?
 
I'm not aware of any springs other than OEM that don't lower the ride height :(

Like you I wouldn't want it any lower...
 
Maybe Eurocarparts or GSF have some 'Aftermarket' i.e. Non Genuine M-Sport springs?

Edit: OUCH!! £63 each - no thanks!

http://www.eurocarparts.com/ecp/c/BMW_Z4_3.0_2003/p/Car-Parts/Suspension-and-Steering/Suspension/Springs
 
Might be a bit of a pointless input - but I have fitted the Eibach Pro Kit to mine which although it has lowered the car slightly (I realise this is not what you're after), the handling does feel that bit sharper, and I still have no trouble with speed bumps or wheels rubbing on lock etc.

Again, sorry if this is of no use, but thought I'd share my thoughts.

Good luck getting the car back to full health.
 
That's where I'm headed guys - a pair of OEM's.

I love the idea of another 15mm lower for looks, etc. but frankly the facelift front on a pre facelift on ///M sport is already lower than an ///M front and added that it might undo the good work of getting off RFT's it would not work for me.

My Indy reckons he's failing a car a week on broken rears these days and not just BM's. Speed bumps, potholes are contributory, but as is lighter design and quality/durability, so he reckons.
 
cj10jeeper said:
My Indy reckons he's failing a car a week on broken rears these days and not just BM's. Speed bumps, potholes are contributory, but as is lighter design and quality/durability, so he reckons.
Click to expand...

Tell me about it, Z4's with M suspension are dreadful over speed bumps, my mate in his Lotus Elise can go twice as fast over them. I even held up a funeral cortege the other week NO JOKE!

I have no shame in slowing down to a snails pace to go over them, uses more petrol and holds people up but if you go that slowly then they shouldnt do your car any harm.

FWIW my car needed a new spring as soon as i bought it, sadly the indy said you can only buy them in pairs so i had to do both. Probably made more sense as the opposite one probably wasnt far behind in snapping.
 
what do they make the springs out of? curly whirlys by the sounds of it lol. mines is quite low and rock hard on 30mm lowered springs so id say go oem, its only money but why change if your happy with how the car rode before. if the springs on mine go i think ill go the koni route, i like how low mine is at the moment but could do with a bit more refined ride.

speed bumps are designed to slow you down, so i guess they are doing their job, but pot holes are cheaper for the council lol, there are some real deep ones round here, feels like they swallow the car when you hit them! cant say i have any issues but i do just crawl over any bumps/rough ground so the nose doesnt ground out
 
Do the broken springs affect the handling of your car, CJ?

I saw the picture of the broken spring and the broken part from Problem Section. Then I went to check the rear springs of my car by putting my hand through the wheel to the spring, but I did not find any loose part/broken part. The dealer gave the car 12-month MOT when I bought it in February. So I hope my car's springs are not broken yet. It has covered 47k miles and still just under 3-year-old.
 
Thanks guys - I'll go with OEM and if they break again in 12 months or last another 6 years I'll figure it out again.

ksher - if there was any noticable changes I'd have had the wheels up and fixing it. Strangely I was even running it at the weekend with alternate back wheels off the ground to find a prop clicking noise and never saw any break, felt any noise or adverse handling. My assumptin is I've got the end of a top coil broke and the bit has long gone.
 
cj10jeeper said:
..... My assumptin is I've got the end of a top coil broke and the bit has long gone.
Click to expand...
When you do the fix, please report back on what you found. If you can, compare the new and old to see if there are any noticeable differences. Thanks
 
Yep, I found it very strange that I couldn't notice any clunking/noises from the rear (and neither could the previous owner) from my two broken springs.

I know it's no good to you, but I had the same dilemma - not wanting to replace snapped OEM with more snap-risk OEM springs - and hence ended up with Eibachs. I've not found it destroys the ride, personally I don't notice any difference. But as you say, the 15mm height drop may knacker things for you with the lower front end. I've only had one bad impact and that was straddling one of those stupid half-bumps at too high a speed (it was unmarked).
 
Springs in stock at Sytner. Well there's a surprise for something that rarely happens....lol

£166 inc. Vat the pair, but I'll pay less :)
 
It probably looks rather odd though walking out with the springs hidden in your pocket ...
 
a11y said:
Yep, I found it very strange that I couldn't notice any clunking/noises from the rear (and neither could the previous owner) from my two broken springs.

I know it's no good to you, but I had the same dilemma - not wanting to replace snapped OEM with more snap-risk OEM springs - and hence ended up with Eibachs. I've not found it destroys the ride, personally I don't notice any difference. But as you say, the 15mm height drop may knacker things for you with the lower front end. I've only had one bad impact and that was straddling one of those stupid half-bumps at too high a speed (it was unmarked).
Click to expand...

I was the same, I was wanting OEM length springs but could'nt find any and did'nt want to just put more snap happy BMW springs on, plus the Eibachs had a 5 year guarantee to BMW's 2 year, I was concerned about lowering it further but have had no more issues than I did before, and the plus side I think the Z actually rides better on the Eibach's than it did on the BMW springs, be it I'm currently on 17" wheels not the 18"s you guys are running, at least for the next 3 weeks till I get home and put the 19"s on.
 
Anyone changed the rear springs themselves?

Had a quick look at the TIS and it seems to indcate removal of output shafts, stabilizer bar, exhaust system and various brackets. Looks a bit extensive for a simple task.

Not had time to look, but cant you just drop the end of the wishbone a bit, flex the driveshaft on it's UJ near the diff and if required compress the springs to get them in?

Picked up the new ones today and keen to get them in.
 
This thread has made me think about going for the Eibachs - I kind of fancy a slightly lower stance and I never see any speed bumps so that doesn't bother me.

CJ - I seem to remember a thread somewhere showing that the swap is very easy - sorry, not really much help.
 
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